00:00Don't begin getting prepared late tomorrow or think you can get around doing it on Saturday.
00:05It's going to be too late.
00:07You need to be prepared to make sure that your home, your office, your children, your pets, all that kind of stuff,
00:16you have answers and solutions to be able to address all those kinds of things.
00:22You're going to need to be able to make sure that what you may be planning to do this weekend.
00:26A major winter storm said to impact more than 200 million people from the south to the southeast and into the northeast,
00:35with Texas among the states expected to be hit hardest.
00:38Now, you just heard the governor telling Texans to prepare now.
00:41The state's preparing, too, for power outages.
00:44Unlike most of the country, much of Texas relies on its own power grid, which limits outside support during extreme demand.
00:50State leaders say the system's ready, but worn ice, snow and bitter cold, which we're all forecasting,
00:55could still trigger localized power outages.
00:58I'm going to break down the forecast from Texas to the northeast right now on AccuWeather Ahead.
01:06Thanks for joining us.
01:07I'm Anna Azalian, and we are now less than 24 hours out from the start of the biggest storm we've seen so far this season.
01:15So let's go ahead and take a look at who needs to be preparing now.
01:19Anybody highlighted in purple here, now is the time.
01:23Go to the store.
01:24Make sure you have enough food to last, especially if you lose power.
01:28And keep in mind, you could be at home, stuck, without power for several days.
01:35That's what you need to be getting enough supplies for.
01:38Exactly what you're seeing the people here doing.
01:40I mean, they're stocking the shelves, getting things ready.
01:42A lot of people out getting those supplies so that they are prepared for this storm.
01:47That is what you should be doing if you haven't already.
01:49And keep in mind, we have that cliche, like, everybody's going to buy milk and bread.
01:54It's not necessarily what you should be buying.
01:56You need plenty of water.
01:57The rule is a gallon per person per day, but make sure you have non-perishables.
02:02So if the power does go out, well, milk's not going to help you.
02:05But peanut butter, canned goods, that will help you.
02:08All right, let's dive into the details of this storm.
02:10More than 200 million people impacted, like I mentioned.
02:12The freezing rain, that is the biggest concern.
02:16Heavy snow, though, that is not to be ignored.
02:18That is going to have a big impact as well.
02:21And then, anything that falls, it is going to stay there for a bit because we have record
02:25cold that follows, and that's part of the reason we're talking about potential power
02:29outages that last several days.
02:32Starting off tomorrow, this is your footprint.
02:34These are the people that should be making those last-minute preparations now.
02:37Tomorrow morning is your last chance to head out before all of this kicks off.
02:41The snow, a mix of the two, and then mostly freezing rain further to the south.
02:46Let's break it down on future radar, give you an idea of exactly how it plays out.
02:50So I'm saying the morning is your last chance because, yeah, we have some rain, and even
02:53early afternoon, we're going to have some rain, but the ice isn't hitting yet.
02:57The ice is when you want to be in one location, and you want to stay there until the storm
03:01is over.
03:01Now, one other thing you're going to notice as I play this out, the storm lasts a couple
03:06days, too, for summer like Dallas or Oklahoma City.
03:09Another thing you'll notice, the ice moves in first.
03:12We're in the overnight hours, early Saturday morning.
03:14You're going to get another round after this seems like it's moving into the Ohio Valley,
03:18into the mid-Atlantic and the northeast, but then another round is going to hit.
03:22Notice the rain in the southeast.
03:24There is a chance we see some thunderstorms and some locally severe thunderstorms.
03:28Be ready for that.
03:29However, the ice is certainly the biggest concern here, especially freezing rain.
03:33Now, summer like Dallas, you're going to get freezing rain, sleet, and then you're going
03:36to get snow on top.
03:37That's a bad combination.
03:39The worst combination for road conditions, that's for sure.
03:41Now, we talk about the snow.
03:42Well, Oklahoma City, you're going to be hit the hardest 6 to 12 inches of snow, or at least
03:46the hardest in the south.
03:47When we get to the northern portion of this, we'll talk about the 12 to 18-inch area.
03:51But Dallas, I mean, you're still going to get 1 to 3 inches of snow on top of the freezing
03:55rain.
03:56Dallas, Shreveport, Atlanta, all the way towards Charlotte, even getting towards Raleigh.
04:00That's where the worst of the freezing rain is going to be.
04:03A lot of you likely see a little bit of a mix of freezing rain and sleet.
04:07Sleet is better than freezing rain, but in the south, I mean, you don't have the resources
04:10that northern states have to clear the roads, to treat the roads, and it's going to be so
04:14cold that there's a concern about treatment of the roads even further north.
04:18Just that's why we're talking about this storm as such a big deal, why things are going
04:21to be so bad.
04:23Here's the widespread power outages forecast, too.
04:25It's where the worst of the ice is going to be.
04:27Here's the worst of the ice is going to be.
04:28Here's the worst of the ice is going to be.
04:29Here's the worst of the ice is going to be.
04:30Here's the worst of the ice is going to be.
04:31Here's the worst of the ice is going to be.
04:32Here's the worst of the ice is going to be.
04:33Here's the worst of the ice is going to be.
04:34Here's the worst of the ice is going to be.
04:35Here's the worst of the ice is going to be.
04:36Here's the worst of the ice is going to be.
04:37Here's the worst of the ice is going to be.
04:38Here's the worst of the ice is going to be.
04:39Here's the worst of the ice is going to be.
04:40Here's the worst of the ice is going to be.
04:41Here's the worst of the ice is going to be.
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